The String-Puller
by chachachain
Summary: A traveling Medieval Faire is attracting much unwanted attention, causing some to believe it is haunted. When the Doctor is targeted as the next victim, time becomes his enemy. Can the Doctor solve the mystery in time, or will he too disappear without a trace? (Tags inside, vote which Doctor I use on my profile too!)


_AN:_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, or its characters. As I'm sure you all know_

 _Please check my profile for updates, scheduling, tags, summaries and more!_

 _Anyhow, hope you enjoy! Feedback is fantastic!_

 _*Rated/Warnings :_

 _Teen for torture, graphic descriptions of dead, death, character deaths, warnings TBA_

 _*Fandom(s)/Categorie(s) :_

 _Doctor Who, Sci-fi/Adventure_

 _*Characters/Tags :_

 _The Doctor, *OC Leah Blaire, *multiple background OCs, OC bad guys, mystery, shrinking, G/t relations, 'cursed' medieval faire, tags TBA_

 _Summary :_

 _A traveling Medieval Faire is attracting much unwanted attention, causing some to believe it is haunted. When the Doctor is targeted as the next victim, time becomes his enemy. Can the Doctor solve the mystery in time, or will he too disappear without a trace?_

 **~·°·~**

A girl stood quietly, not seeing anything in front of her. Not anything _physical_ at any rate. She didn't really see anything, more like _felt_. Her mind's eye provided only a deep, dark purple mist swirling around her. She had seen it before, only once, and she knew her time was up. She hadn't found him. Now there was no hope. She must pass on the responsibility to the next person; their next victim.

She was floating through the weightlessness; no ground, seemingly no air, and nothing to tell her whether she was madly spinning, or perfectly still. Simply trying to figure out which way was up made her sick, as there was nothing visually to discern whether she was even moving or not. Her stomach roiled, and she felt a weight push down, up, and all around, compressing her slightly. Besides that, she couldn't feel anything. She sent out the commands to move her limbs and push against the weight, but her body didn't respond. Changing tactics slightly she twitched her fingers.

Nothing.

The mist twirled around itself elegantly, seeming to become solid and forming a strong sort of twine. She desperately tried to get away, to scream, do _anything_ , but there was no reaction from the rest of her. The tentacle-like appendages took their time slowly snaking up to her. Fighting harder against her immobility did nothing but increase her heart rate dramatically.

She felt a chasm dividing her mind and body, and not seeing any other options, mentally reached out; desperate to find something stable. The snaking forms wrapped themselves gently around her fingers and she _finally_ felt it; numbness. She could see them poking, exploring every detail of her outer extremities, but only felt a tingling, static numb beginning from her center and reaching to her fingers to where the tendrils touched.

She felt her body now, but couldn't seem to connect. In fact it seemed to repel her like the wrong side of a magnet. She cried in desperation, and was surprised to feel tears on her face.

The tentacles suddenly released and seemed to hiss, moving steadily as though they were _looking_ at her. They moved closer to her face, now definitely emitting some kind of gravelly hiss as they inspected her tears.

They quickly reared back, and shot out for the rest of her body; grabbing her arms, legs, and stabbing into the base of her skull. She felt it search through her neck, coming very near her spine. It bumped against something in her head and she suddenly felt herself able to connect with her body again, but it was too stiff; she still couldn't move. Sensing her last moments were near, she cried out the one name that came to her mind: the title of a saviour. The only one who could possibly stop the cycle; the hero. The last word to escape her lips as the dark ropes found their mark, coiling around her brainstem as everything she knew stopped:

 _Doctor!_

* * *

The TARDIS was out of control. Her heavy wheezing concerning her ward, the madman. They'd only just left a particularly cutting adventure, and the Doctor hadn't even taken a moment to grieve before the old girl heard a desperate noise. A cry of distress.

They rocketed through time and space, the Doctor flipping the occasional switch, or hitting that button, but for the most part holding on for life as the TARDIS led him on. He was tempted to stop her. _So_ tempted to halt her progressions through the existence of everything and just mourn one more time. He knew though; if he stopped now, he may never start again. So, he let her sweep with wild abandon through the expanse between time, leading them to his next distraction.

With a start he saw they were about to crash into the early 21st century. He ran around with determination, reading this, hitting that, pulling himself out of his thoughts and focusing on landing his ship somewhere inconspicuous.

They landed well enough he supposed; a good distance from a clearing, but hidden slightly by trees. If you weren't looking for it, it almost seemed to belong. He poked out his head, sniffing the air a bit and not finding anything too out of place. He closed up the TARDIS and stared at her a moment, wondering what on earth happened.

He was standing near a field, and the closest form of life looked like it was from the 1900s. It _smelled_ 21st century, _tasted_ 21st century, but _looked_ wrong. He was in Cardiff, that much he knew for sure. He trekked forward to the scene and found several people dressed like their own time era and breathed a sigh of relief. Just a renaissance faire then, maybe he could ask some questions while looking perfectly normal. Well, blend in a little...

He paused when he saw a gothic woman with a child running circles around her on a leash, talking to a friend and for all intents and purposes looking bored out of her mind. However the two were having a seemingly intense conversation, passing out flyers as they spoke. Her friend with brown hair seemed distressed as they talked, but the black haired girl seemed to brush off everything she said. The Doctor gawked a moment before selecting the ever so slightly more approachable one.

"'Scuse me, you wouldn't happen to be uh, in any kind of trouble at the moment? No sort of emergencies going on or dragons to slay or that sort of thing?"

Both girls turned to him with shock on their faces. Obviously they hadn't been expecting a man to wander over to them and strike up a conversation. Much less talking about dragons when he was clearly not dressed in the appropriate garb to be part of the festivities. "Who are you supposed to be?" The gothic woman did not seem amused, and nearly forgot to move her arm over her head to keep from getting tangled in her child's leash.

The man paused a moment, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Ah, pffft- time traveler. Lost my way and looking for the something entertaining actually. Fascinating stuff really, jousting and all that." The gothic girl rolled her eyes, but her friend gave a quick sympathetic smile.

"Well, I would say jousting is pretty cool, but they cancelled it. The daughter of one of the performers is missing so-"

"It's not like she's in _danger_ Annie, it hasn't been that long. She probably just hooked up with some guy and isn't paying attention to her phone."

The gothic girl was ignored as the other tried to keep the Doctor's focus on her. "Nobody's heard from her in four days. Lauren's not like that, she _always_ answers texts back, her mom is paranoid and she doesn't like to scare her."

"This guy probably doesn't even know anything in the first place, it's not like we saw him at all Wednesday."

"Yeah but her mom was freaking out because of all these disappearances-"

"Yeah, and like you said, she's paranoid Annie. You shouldn't be too, I'm sure she just found a cute local and forgot her phone somewhere."

Annie sighed. "Were you here a few days ago by chance? You didn't happen to see this girl?" She held up her flyer to the doctor, and he finally saw its bold lettering:

 **MISSING**

Both girls seemed to gauge his reaction to her picture closely, the goth seeming to actually be invested. He looked at the picture with intense eyes, memorizing every feature. He hadn't seen her before, no; but her friend's concern rang some distant warning bell through the fog of the unknown. This was why the TARDIS brought him here.

"No, but you mentioned other disappearances?"

The goth spoke up very fast, "Why should we tell you? You could be the guy behind the kidnappings, and we were told not to talk about it to anyone but-"

The Doctor flipped open his wallet to show the two his psychic paper, and they both stopped and stared a moment in disbelief. The girl named Annie seemed to brighten a bit at someone even paying her any mind, but her friend simply rolled her eyes and let her arm go taught as her child pulled against it. "It's nothing. People have just gone missing recently, and of course, you gotta blame the carnies. We're a damn faire, not a bloody circus."

Annie gave her companion a scathing look and started her explanation. "Well, Lauren works with us down by the King's Stage doing folk songs. She came in because everyone thought it'd be good for her to spend time with her dad. There had only been one accident ever before then, but everyone felt it; something sort of off a few months ago while we set up in that town in Whales. We travel a lot, but we got held up by the investigation, and they never found her.

"The victims mother was a Wiccan and she kept going on about 'dark spirits' and such in the campgrounds. She said it would attach itself to us if we didn't leave quickly, she was kind of crazy."

"She was _n_ _ot_ crazy Annie. Simply misguided. I told you I performed all of the right rituals to cleanse-"

"Anyhow, it seems she was right about something following us; everywhere we go at least one person has gone missing. We're thinking of stopping after tomorrow, since we can't just _leave_ Lauren here, and we don't need to be giving any serial kidnappers a means to continue. Can't you access records or something though? We've already given plenty of statements to multiple officers."

"Well, we all like to hear it straight from the source of course. Anyone else you two think I should talk to?"

The darker one delivered a cold glare that any other man might balk at, but not the ancient one. He returned her freezing hatred with a quick puff of air and looked back to Annie.

"Uh, her father and Duncan, the puppeteer are probably the only others who can tell you anything. She kinda kept to herself- I mean, everyone loved her and she was super friendly but... She's kind if a mystery."

The Doctor nodded, and with a solemn smile walked towards what appeared to be the children's section. Obviously no adult would've noticed anything, but children? Their perceptive minds were wide open, untainted by the laws of grown ups; catching details no parent would pay any mind. Sharp eyes see when something runs by, bored hands find something to grab which most wouldn't bother with, unoccupied minds coming to wild conclusions and deductions.

* * *

Beth held her fairy cage proudly, eager to present the work of skill to her mother. Of course she would love it, and it would be put to good use.

Thanking the women behind the craft table she dashed off to find the person she made it for. She was, however, extremely delicate with the trap; if too much glitter spilled out, there wouldn't be enough for the fairies to bother with, and then what? Her efforts would have been for naught.

She didn't see her Mum anywhere and slowed down near the puppet show going on to her left. She giggled a little as the lifeless dolls were jerked about, someone voicing the imaginary opinions of the characters and weaving a tapestry of plot from them. She sat on the grass not too far from the stage, not paying any mind to the others that also gathered around for the entertainment. They sat entranced as the marionettes were manipulated to come to life and breathe a story into existence.

* * *

The Doctor continued to wade through the people, listening to whispers passing quietly from one body to the next. Nearly everyone was here because of some missing girl, and danger attracts eccentricity. The people were buzzing about, spreading their versions or opinions of what happened, but the Doctor gleaned nothing important from it. Simply mindless droning, overpowering the tiny voices of useful information.

He made his way towards the puppet show, watching the wooden marionettes fly gracefully across the little stage. No need to speak to the father yet. If he knew anything more than the girls, he would have told them, and they hadn't mentioned anything.

As he waited he looked closer at the puppets themselves; they were intricately detailed and expertly painted, and yet the clothes looked as though they had cone straight from a cheap toy store. Bulky, clumsy needlework didn't belong on such delicate craftsmanship.

As he pondered this the show ended and people started to wander off in search of the next form of entertainment. He, of course, was the odd one; pushing closer from the outskirts, looking to meet the puppetmaster himself. He waded through the people and noticed another soul weaving the same direction. A little girl, seemingly without parental supervision, clutching a glittery cage moved towards the stage with the Doctor.

She arrived long before him and started talking with the puppeteer, pointing to the wooden instruments with excitement. He handed one to her and she placed her cage delicately on the ground. She held the marionette with a sort of awestruck reverence, and the Doctor made it a priority to speak with her.

The string-puller came first though. He glanced at the girls expression once more.

Maybe not...

"Afternoon." The Doctor's bright expression was contagious as both persons turned and smiled back with the same enthusiasm. He extended a hand to the puppeteer and it was met with a firm handshake. The young girl handed back the puppet and quickly picked her cage up, almost protectively.

"What's that you have there?" The Doctor crouched down, interested in the glitter-coated wood, obviously made with loving care.

"It's a fairy trap. I saw one earlier down by the stream!" A drawing was then thrusted to the Doctor, with a hint of pride. "I thought if I made a trap I could help her. She had no wings, so she can't fly like other fairies." Something was wrong. She seemed to be telling the truth, and the picture wasn't very eccentric; in fact, it just seemed to be of a small person in medieval clothing near a stream.

"When did you see her?"

When he glanced back up, she seemed to be staring at the flyer he still carried with him. "Just yesterday." _Now_ he may be getting somewhere.

He showed her the picture from the poster he held in his hands, asking slowly and seriously, "Did she look like this?"

The girl didn't take her eyes off the picture, but nodded curiously. She gently took the picture and continued to stare when the doctor suddenly remembered there was another member of the conversation and turned to him, quietly showing his badge to indicate he wanted to talk when there were not little ears to listen. The other man nodded in response

The ancient one felt a presence staring at the trio and turned to see a woman approaching a little worry etched in her smile. "I think your mum has found you," he smiled at the child and she smiled back when she had glanced to confirm the presence of her caretaker. She handed him back the paper but the Doctor gently refused it. "You can keep the picture, so you remember what she looks like." The little girl smiled brightly at him and hurried towards myths woman, who rubbed the back of her daughter's head and walked off to another show.

The Doctor turned to the young man, but only came away with more evidence that something was off. "Listen I've already talked with the police. I haven't seen Lauren in a while, everything has been kind of busy trying to catch up when we have to stay for questioning because of the disappearances. I can tell you that no, she didn't seem off at all and she's not the type to do stupid things like hookup with locals. I don't know anything else, and her father will tell you the same thing; please don't bother him anymore, he's taking it very hard."

And the Doctor could definitely honor that wish.

 **~·°·~**

The Doctor was just getting his bearings of the place with a map he had taken from a booth when rapid footsteps and two familiar faces were suddenly noticed.

"Sir, sir! Where have you been. We've been looking everywhere!" Annie and her friend who was lacking the child nearly broke into a much more frantic run when they say their intended target.

"What is it?" He noted the muted panic they were checking down and added quietly when they cams closer, "What's wrong?"

Annie's mouth worked but nothing came out, she looked desperately to her friend for assistance.

"They've never done something like this, not so close to the last kidnapping."

The Doctor felt impatience begin to boil over his limits. "You need to tell me, what exactly happened?"

The girl took a steeling breath, exhaling forcefully.

"They took someone else."

* * *

Beth walked with her mom, staring at the picture the man gave her. The fairy was missing? But then did someone own her before? The poor youngling was a bit put out by her own confusion, and stuck by her mother for a long while.

That is until something suspicious caught her sharp eyes.

Behind a tent, there right there. It was barely in her line of vision but she saw it. A man in dark clothes bent down and picked up an intricately lifelike doll, but why would he need one? And why did it look so familiar?

The gears in Beth's head were clogged for a moment trying to place it, when two bolts hit her and sent them spinning at full speed. The doll looked just like the fairy, and the missing poster! And the doll also looked just like one of-

Beth quietly snuck closer to the scene, watching the man inspect the craftsmanship supposedly, and then turn to innocuously leave; as unnoticed as morning mist in a small valley evaporated into the sun-kissed sky.

Beth had to stop him, she had to-

"Hey, Mr.? I like that doll."

He turned, surprised at the little voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He put it in his pocket and knelt down to her level. Every nerve ending on the ground girl was on edge, screaming at her to leave. But she had to help the fairy any way she could. "That's a very nice craft you have there. Would you like some more sparkly glitter for it?"

Beth nodded warily and held her cage open for then man, who sprinkled a generous amount of his glitter inside. This stuff was much finer, and much more reflective than her own, and she stared at it, marveling at its purple beauty.

The man took a deep breath and suddenly blew it all in her face. She quickly closed her eyes to keep anything from getting in them, "Hey! Cut it out!"

When she opened eyes, the man was gone.

Everything felt a little tingly, especially her cheeks as her heard someone run up behind her. She tensed at the ideas that rushed through her mind; big men that would take her away, the man with the cloak and doll blowing more dust at her... The thoughts grabbed at her legs, keeping them strapped to the ground until the person was right on top of her.

"Beth, please don't run off without telling me first." Beth turned to her Mum, shock obviously etched in her features. "Honey, you can't put the glitter so close to your eyes! You'll get hurt and scratch them. Come on, let's clean you up."

"I didn't put it there, it was blown in my face!"

"Okay, well the wind might've done it, but you need to be more careful! Did you breathe any in?" Beth was handed a tissue and she blew her nose, a little glitter coming out, but it was missing something...

None of it was purple.

* * *

She watched it all happen quietly. Nobody could see her of course, the greenery hid her far too well. The leaves covered her, and her dark clothing which she had been regretting up until now, helped to avoid any unwanted attention.

 _ **How could they do such a thing to a young innocent? She won't survive it alone, are you mad?**_ Determination rose from her spine and she straightened up in resolve. She carefully let the leaves fall back in place and pulled back, unseen.

 ** _Don't worry Beth, I'm coming._**


End file.
